Ex-Meghalaya MLA Julius Dorphang Sentenced To 25 Years Imprisonment For Raping Minor | India News

Meghalaya: The former MLA Julius Dorphang was sentenced to 25 years in jail for raping a younger woman, and the Meghalaya High Court has declined to overturn that call. The High Court panel listening to the case on Thursday, presided over by Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee, additionally ordered the state authorities to pay the sufferer a compensation of Rs 20 lakh in funding inside three months. 

The excessive court docket bench dismissed the previous MLA’s attraction in its ruling, saying that the trial court docket’s 25-year sentence “does not call for any interference” and was supported by “cogent reasons.” The court docket added, “Given the convict’s age, the term may be 15 years, 20 years, 30 years, or any other number of years in between. By not imposing the maximum term allowed, the discretion that is used benefits the offender.” Dorphang had appealed the choice made by POCSO Special Judge FS Sangma within the Ri-Bhoi district, who had sentenced him to 25 years in jail and a fantastic in August 2021.

Dorphang was sentenced for his involvement within the rape of a minor woman. The sufferer was reportedly a scholar of a faculty run by a social group that was based by Dorphang. The incident got here to mild after the sufferer’s dad and mom filed a criticism with the police. Dorphang was charged below numerous sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. He was additionally suspended from the submit of the General (*25*) of the Meghalaya Pradesh Congress Committee following the allegations. The case has sparked widespread outrage and protests within the state, with many demanding strict punishment for the accused. The case highlights the problem of sexual violence in opposition to minors and the necessity for sturdy measures to forestall such heinous crimes.

The HC Bench moreover mandated that the state present the survivor with free entry to all medical care applicable for a Grade-II officer for the next 20 years and that she be given entry to a late schooling programme for ladies so as to assure that she has a traditional and wholesome life. In 2007, Dorphang, the chief and creator of the defunct Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council, surrendered himself in to the authorities. 

Later, in 2013, Dorphang contested for meeting elections from the Mawahati meeting seat within the Ri-Bhoi district and received. He was accused of raping a 14-year-old woman in 2017 when he was serving as a member of legislative meeting. He was detained in accordance with the Immoral Trafficking Prevention Act and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. Despite being detained on the Nongpoh district jail, the Meghalaya High Court granted him launch in 2020 on the premise of his well being. He was taken into custody once more when the POCSO court docket discovered him responsible in August 2021.